Phase 16: We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story

The dawn didn’t even get a chance to break before we made our way out of Casablanca. After all the planning, we had finally completed what we set out to do. It was beyond surreal. So much so, that we couldn’t sleep. Actually, we chose not to because our flight back to Amberica was super early and we had to catch the train at 5AM. But let’s be honest, we only snuck out so early because we knew we’d get bogged down by the celebrations and the crying and cheering and whatnot that we’d never be able to leave the city. I mean, how often do you get to be the final stage in a 15-phase tactical takeover blitzkrieg? Naturally, you’re gonna be a little chipper.

There’s really not much to say about today, other than just how quickly it came (that’s what she said). Our endeavors in Spain seem so long ago, but at the same time they are very fondly remembered, as if they happened yesterday. We entered as lowly conquerors, having to blend in with the locals to avoid ruining our plans, and now we’re exiting as deities, praised for our visits and revered for our point of action. Things are going to be different, and that’s a change even Obama supporters can still believe in.

All that’s left is to have our story told, and told in a way that has the might and scale of how we as humans remember dinosaurs. And we’re not talking about those derpasaurus-type evolution goofs. We’re talking a big bad T-Rex stomping around, wearing sunglasses and holding a shotty and shouting just how big and bad he is. Oh, and the T-Rex is also wearing a leather jacket and it looks better on him than the Fonz, that’s how cool the T-Rex is. That’s the type of remembrance we believe our epic elicits. We believe that’s the type of grandeur our story will continue to depict with our future endeavors.

Waiting for the Train to the Airport in Casablanca

Made it to the Airport!

This way!

See ya later, Casablanca!

About to get on an A380 in Paris!

There’s the big boy!

View out our window

Almost home!

There’s Atlanta!

We’re back!

Before and After pictures 🙂

Phase 15: White House Down

Casablanca. Ohhhhhh Casablanca. Just because you have a movie named after you doesn’t make you exempt from our inevitable take down. And let us tell you, that take down was among the most inevitable, seeing as it was our LAST ONE. OMGGGGGG. After all this time, after all the moving and shaking and revolutionizing, we were on our way to doing the impossible. And what better way to finish our sweep than by conquering the most well-known city in Morocco. Not necessarily the most exciting city though, but certainly the most popular (pretty good analogy for the “cool” kids, yeah?). However, there were some cool things that we just had to get our hands on. For example, the Hassan II Mosque off along the coast of the city. Built very recently as a tribute to a man who needs no introduction. Obviously. And similar things were happening with us; we were gaining notoriety throughout the city the minute we walked among it. Our escapades have made people very happy and have been widely regarded as a good move. And the more time we spent outdoors wandering about, the more quickly the city conformed to our whims. It was like being a 6th grader going back to elementary school to visit, that feeling of immediately knowing you’re the coolest kid in existence.

However, there was one such mission that gave us a good bit of trouble. Well, more of a sub-mission that turned into the primary once the primary was dealt with like it was a secondary mission: our search for the Kinder egg. This elusive treat has managed to make even the most diligent and strong-willed of men succumb to its wiles. The mere mentioning of this delectable charmer was enough to make the brawniest of men squeal. And it came with toys! We had to know of its powers.

We searched high. We searched low. On the shelves, that is. But this king of kings was no where to be seen. This charmer of men did its darndest to make sure it was out of sight but never out of mind. It was essentially the Batman of chocolate candy treats. And, like Batman, was entirely elusive during the day time. As the dusk approached, and the moon made its presence known, our optimism was transforming to despair faster than Ouarzazate turned itself over to the empire. Or, for a more relatable analogy, our optimism dwindled faster than people’s love for the Transformers franchise the minute Michael Bay took over. Or, our optimism waned faster than hearing your favorite song come on the radio but only as a sample to some over-produced pop song (we’re looking at you, everyone currently involved in pop music).

We had walked for miles and miles to no avail, eventually coming to a point of reluctant acceptance that we weren’t destined to find the Kinder. But, as luck would have it, in the dead of night we had found a bright green neon sign illuminating the path to glory. And as we entered the store, we were drawn by some higher celestial being in a direction we knew would lead us to salvation. We swaggered with a confidence towards the egg as if we’ve been through the store many many times before. Somehow, unbeknownst to us, we knew just where it was, and when we snapped out of our zombie-esque daze we awoke to the mystical egg in question. Destiny has a funny way of revealing itself to us, and upon realization that we had in fact stumbled upon the Kinder only goes to show that fate is most certainly a guideline to the human experience. That being said, we bought 6 of them.

With the power of the egg(s), our conquest was complete. All that’s left to say is: Mission Accomplished. [cue scene of good ol’ W. standing in front of the US flag]

Amazing breakfast served by Yassin and Nadia

Mosque of Hassan II

Stefan and Sorabh (I swear Sorabh is not photoshopped in, Stefan is just that tall)

Mosque of Hassan II

Us at Mosque of Hassan II

Fountain outside the Mosque

Doors leading into the Main Chamber

Outside the Mosque

Inside the mosque’s main chamber

It took only 6 years to build the Mosque with 10,000 craftsmen

The ceiling of the Mosque retracts to open up to the sky

Us in the Mosque

Balcony made of carved cedar wood

Rulers belong on thrones!

Inscription on the Pillars of the Mosque

Center Atrium in the Mosque

Chandelier in the Mosque

The entire building was decorated with intricate detail

Light Fixture

View from below in the Atrium

Inside the bathing areas of the mosque

Ornate ceiling

Flower bathing area

Row of faucets

Hammans below the mosque

Entrance to the bathing area

Drinks after visiting the Mosque, Orange Juice and Strawberry Milkshake!

Rick’s Cafe from the movie ‘Casablanca’

I has cake! Reward for finding the kinder eggs!

Fruit Juice!

My first Kinder Egg!

Oooooo, a toy!

What are you looking at?

My first kinder toy! (And the egg was also very delicious!)

Phase 14: The Final Countdown

Ouarzazate has now become Our-zazate, and the Sahara has now become the Sahorabh. The screenplay of our epic was also in the works. Our work here was done, and thus it was time to move on. We were coming down to the final stages of our initial plan, so we were getting a bit anxious. Luckily, we happened to find a bus driver that sensed our anticipation and drove accordingly: with eagerness and haste. Yes, through the windy mountain roads. It was like being in one of the Transporter movies and this guy was Jason Statham, except without the fighting moves..and brown. Or maybe more accurately, it was like being in Speed and the bus driver knew the bus couldn’t go slower than 55 mph. The bus even had the bullet hole to match! Once we arrived at our destination, whether it be through the package being delivered or transitioned to another vehicle, depending on which movie reference you prefer, we got off the speedwagon and made our way to our next mode of transport: the choo choo.

Now, as some background, we took the bus into Marrakesh and because we had already conquered it previously, we were able to ride in first class. No longer did we have to try and blend in, the people knew who we were. That came especially in handy when we got on the train, as we met some people from the Ambericas, a Canadian and an Amberican. Obviously they knew who we were and spent the entire time chatting with us, like anyone would do if they got that much time alone with their idol. Cool folks though, we’ll try not to oppress them too much in the coming era.

The train came to a stop and that’s when we knew we arrived to our final destination: the White House. Kidding. But not really. Casablanca!

Our time in Casablanca for that night was short-lived, as we moved from the train to the tram to make our way to our rendezvous point. From there, we met our contact who sneaked us in to the heart of the city, and from there we would begin our final assault. Tomorrow. We were tired.

Our wonderful temporary abode in Tazentoute outside of Ouarzazate

Packed taxi ride to the Ouarzazate bus station

Our lovely bus to Marrakesh that we spent 5 hours on

Our room in Casablanca!

Finally time to relax!

Chilling out in the living room

Phase 13: Deserted

The early bird gets the worm. That seems to be the recurring theme throughout our attempts at conquest. We woke up with the sun, got into our liberty transport vehicle, and made our way down to the furthest point of human civilization. The trip took us through the winding mountain roads where the sunbeams did their best to make sure we always had something scenic to look at. Eventually, and we mean that to be as painstaking as it can possibly be because it did take quite a long long time, we got out of the mountains and down into the valleys. That’s where we noticed the stark contrast the landscape of Morocco had to offer. On one side of the road were a lush forest of palm trees growing an abundance of various types of fruits and nuts, and on the other side was a barren desert. And this contrast continued for most of our journey, though it was certainly a sight to behold. The towns we passed through that capitalized on the valley’s bounty were also something we ended up gaining a hold of, obviously.

Our journey, thought very hot and bothersome, finally got us to our final destination: the Tinfou Dunes. These were like nothing we had ever seen before on our journeys… yet also surprisingly disappointing. They were just on the outskirts of the Sahara, so I guess we can say we have been to the Sahara-ish. But still a sight to uphold. The mounds of sand were like mountains, but ever changing and flowing like the ocean. We transferred to our vehicle of choice for navigating the mounds: camel. Or more specifically, a dromedary, which is the actual name for a one humped camel; a real camel has two humps, and do not natively exist in Morocco (just as an FYI). Our guide maneuvered us around and over the dunes and after about an hour…. we were done. It was hot. We conquered enough of this terrain. Next time we will take A/C 4×4. And camels are bumpy. And awkward. And one rubbed its eye ball and nostril against my (as in Amber’s) leg. Slightly gross. But on the other hand, I think it liked me 🙂

After our time out in the “desert” and after we finished building our sand castle, though it is more accurate to call it a sand palace, we took our leave before the heat had a chance to conquer us. We headed home and got some well-deserved aircon, some rest, and a fooooood. We spent the rest of the night under the “desert” sky, looking at the stars. We figure we should start getting an idea of where to go next once we finished with Earth. You may not be aware of this but there are a lot of stars. Like more than a hundred. But probably less than 108. In either case, expect many more entries to come in the near and distant future.

Rocky Desert

Town

Yay!

Our Hot ride for the day

Canyon

Outloook

Moroccan Boy on Donkey

Kasbah (castle)

Draa Valley

Oasis/Palmery

Kasbah in the distance

Watch out for CAMELS

See the dunes!

The camels/dromedaries

Mounting Camel

Ready to go!

hi!

Approaching the Dunes

Tinfou Dunes

On Camels

Look Ma, no Hands!

Tinfou Dunes

We’re on Camels!

We did it!

Our Camels

Playing in the Dunes

The Sand is squishy…

Cheeeese

Tinfou Dunes

“It has not rain in three years”

Walking through the Gardens with our Taxi Driver

The Gardens

Coming back through the Canyon

Heeheehee

Moroccan Flags

Action!

Movie Studios

Our Lovely Riad in Ouarzazate with a pool!

Our Green Room in Ouarzazate

Tagine Dinner at the Riad

Phase 12: Have Your Secret Agent Call My Secret Agent

We woke up and geared up for our bus ride up into the mountains. That’s right, we’re going back into the mountains but only because we love ’em so. Let’s be honest, mountains are basically the best geographic biome..except maybe deep sea because that’s where kaiju come from. And let’s be honest, Pacific Rim was/is basically the best non-fictional, based-on-a-soon-to-be-true story out there..except maybe Back to the Future 2 (one more year till hover boards!). Nonetheless, we made our way back into the mountains on what was possibly the longest bus ride anyone would be willing to take. But, as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day..but it sure burned down just as quickly. Now, with all that rambling out of the way, both by us and the bus, we can finally inform you that we had made it to the next stop along our path of righteousness: Ouarzazate. For those who don’t know, this town is among the more famous in Morocco (and the world) for being a prime filming location for old worldy type movies, one such movie being Lawrence of Arabia. Ever heard of it? No? What about Gladiator, heard of that? It kind of sounded like you said maybe. It’s the one with Russell Crowe and whats-his-face.The guy from Her. The depressed mustache guy.

Anyway, you can see why transferring ownership into our hands would be beneficial. For the astute, you may recall that we previously mentioned that this chronicling of our tales is partly because it would provide inspiration for directors. Well, what better way for a movie to get made about our trials and tribulations than having a city that’s known for producing movies under our domain. Ouarzazate also has good strategic potential, as it is situated against a desert (more on that later).

Upon our arrival, we could already see the private jets of big Hollywood directors coming in for a landing. Naturally, they would want their portrayals of our lives to be as accurate as possible, and that lends to us being cast as ourselves. But, we could not be distracted from our mission and therefore, traveled under the guise of ordinary citizens. We managed to sneak away undetected and made our way to our temporary residence outside the city. While there, we met with a correspondence who briefed us on various strategic options. We won’t get into them because we don’t want to bore you with the details of everything. It’s all glamour for you!

After speaking with our correspondence, we established a plan and decided it was time to take action. We found our way to the main attraction of Ouarzazate: the Ait Ben Haddou, a large fort town, now abandoned. Perfect. Large abandoned fort towns are right up our alley. Honestly, we couldn’t believe no one decided to take it for themselves sooner. It was just sitting there, unprotected. The little village around it didn’t offer much resistance either, but they were all about hanging out and making trips into the desert. Fairly peaceful folk, so we let them be. They did, however, give us some pretty interesting ideas on how to proceed with our next day. And, like all good movies, we’ll cliff hang you there. See you in the sequel: Phase 12 2: Phase 13.

Bus tickets to Ouarzazate

Heading out of Marrakesh

Tower things in Marrakesh

Pretty Landscape

Heading Towards the Mountains

Scenery Changes

COWS, MOM

Break for Lunch

In the Mountains

To the Desert

Desert

Ait Ben Haddou

New Ait Ben Haddou

Inside Ait Ben Haddou

Overlook

View from the top

Sunset

Details

Ait Ben Haddou from the river bed

Customary Tea

Phase 11: Spy Party

We woke up in the morning and started off our take over plan like any other plan: by leaving the city we’re trying to take over. Yes! We made our way over to the nearest mountain range, the Atlas Mountains. You may be pretty confused as to why we moved to the mountains to begin our revolution, but that just means you’re not tactical geniuses and we’re not going to discuss basic war strategies with peasants. You continue to concern yourselves with the reality TV and the pop music, we’ll handle the big boy business.

We made our way up the mountain and met some of the locals there, who were peddling oil as if we were president of the United States. Yeah, you know the one. Jimmy Carter. At least they know their audience. Luckily for them, they got a chance to run into us which allowed us to free them from their oily prisons. Unlike Americans, am I right? Those filthy slobs in their diesel powered rascals, and their greasy hands filled with skewers of deep-fried hamburgers, butter, and diet pills. And when they manage to muster the strength to lift their arm (and we use that term loosely, almost as loose as their flabby skin. Even the word ‘almost’ is being used loosely, as we know that the loose skin can oscillate indefinitely once set into motion) to honk the horn, it cycles between “MURICA,” “We’re #1,” and “See you in court.”

ANYWAYS… after the oily berber women, we continued to trek up deep within the highest regions of the Atlas Mountain range. We were told about this mystical awesome waterfall, only to get there and find and everyone and their mother in morocco had already found it first. We’ll we quickly squashed that idea and called DIBS, which everyone knows the rules of dibs. And we figured that no one else must have called it yet because no one there spoke the right language for the DIBS. We continued up into the farther reaches of the moutanins by foot, in order to get the best perspective of our conquered lands. Like mufasa and simba, “everywhere the light touches is our kingdom”. But for us, it was even more encompassing than that, as you should all know by now. We were fed food like the kings we are, being brought plate after plate of traditional moroccan cuisine, so we would look more like American tourists. All part of the plan. Once we sufficiently resembled tourists, we headed back into Marrakesh to begin our revolution. With the kind of experience we had with revolutions, we decided it was best to start at the busiest and most likely place for our influence to spread quickly: Djemaa El Fna. A densely populated area with a diverse blend of people allowed for quite the target. To our surprise, it seemed like as soon as we set foot into the square the celebrations had already began. There were street performers playing and dancing to music, carts and carts of orange juice vendors handing out drinks to thirsty patrons (for serious, if you get a chance to go to Marrakesh, stop by the Djemaa El Fna and get yourself a jus de pamplemousse, a grapefruit juice, from one of the carts), people with monkeys in little dresses, men dressed as women ready to belly dance, the whole nine yards. The celebration went well into the night but we did not, as our trek into the mountains had us pooped. We headed back to our correspondent’s location to get some rest and gear up for our next conquering.

Berber woman making argan oil things

On top of the terrace of the berber women hut

???

Bridges

In the Village

Berber Village

Carving Alabaster

By the Waterfall

Yes, we had to go up that ladder. No, it was not at that angle upon ascent

Full view of the waterfall

Cheeeese!

Landscape

Overlooking the berber village

Hiking

Bridge of Questional Integrity

Down by the River

What a view!

Look at those colors!

Berber Village in the mountains

Old berber mud hut

Lunch!

Terrace we had lunch on

Ooooh, I think he spotted me!

Cobras, Vipers, and Snakes, oh my!

Orange Juice of Questionable Origins

Dessert of cookies and jus de anane (pineapple juice)

Henna!

Finished product

Mark of a warrior!

We match! (kinda)

Phase 10: Kesh Me If You Can

Sorabat? Why are you still thinking about that place? We’re done with that. We’re moving on to bigger and better things. Well, we’re not really sure about bigger mostly because I’m unfamiliar with the area both cities encompass. We’re not really sure about better either since that’s pretty subjective.

Anyway, onto bigger and better things. Marrakesh.

We awoke in our newly revolutionized city, it even still had that newly revolutionized smell. Once our nostrils got accustomed to that musk, which is still as refreshing as ever, we decided it was time to make our leave. We boarded the earliest train out of that city, but to our dismay it seemed like every other person there had the same idea. I guess word got out that we were taking the party elsewhere and they wanted to come along. Can’t blame them. But this did make for an interesting train ride. And I use the word ‘ride’ loosely, as it was more standing than sitting. To get you into the right mindset, think about any concert you’ve been to but then make it indoors, and as cramped as possible so there’s only body heat radiating throughout the room, and then take the band that you went to see and replace it with an empty stage.

On the bright side, we found some supporters of the cause who had no hesitation to jump in and help. Not like we needed it but as the saying goes: why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free. It also helps having a local escort us around because Morocco is, for whatever reason, devoid of signs that tell you where you are. In fact, that’s the first order of business for all you cogs; put up some signs.

Somehow, somewhere along the way to our hideout, some anti-spy personnel managed to spot us and snatch one of our communication devices. This was an especially difficult stroke of bad luck as the device contained takeover tactics, points of contact, detailed information regarding our intentions to secure victory, and other espionage-related things. Unfortunately for that person, the device was set to self-destruct in the event that it fell into the wrong hands.

Nothing else really to note. We made it to our hidden hideout, deep within the medina. We walked around the main square, Djemaa El Fna, to get a sense of the local flavor. We had some orange juice from a street vendor, to get a sense of the local flavor. And, of course, we had some food, to get a sense of the local flavor. With Marrakesh’s flavor flav’d (yeah boiiiiii), we headed back to our hideout and made final preparations for our take over plan. We also got some well-deserved R&R.

Oh Dear!

My little bit of “personal” space

Scenery Change

Arrive in Marrakesh!

Arriving to Djemaa El Fna Square

At Djemaa El Fna Square with our new friend

Our New Friend, Najim

Dinner of Couscous aux 7 legumes and chicken brochettes

Orange Juice Stand, they were everywhere

Night Street Performers

Phase 9: Capitol Gains

We came. We saw. We conquered.

Rabat, known to the locals as the peaceful and quiet capitol of Morocco, was most certainly that. The denizens, highly bureaucratic, spent most of their time buried in paperwork trying to determine how to take action while we went in and did our thaaaang. You know, the thaaang. We talked about this.

Now, you might be asking yourself what we intended to gain by taking over a city that the other Moroccans find useless. Because we wanted to. Don’t let anyone tell you what you should and shouldn’t do; be your own boss! Pave your own path! Take over whatever city you feel like taking over because that’s what makes you who you are.

Also, Sorabat has a nice ring to it.

So let us itemize what we as an empire have gained today. The Tower of Hassan, ours. The adjacent mausoleum with marble coffins (currently occupied but we’ll allow it, especially since their term is grandfathered in from the previous owner), ours. The Chellah (an ancient civilization of ruins, and a turtle), ours. A medina full of crap, ours. Some jerk roosters who cock-a-doodle-doo at five in the morning and refuse to stop until sunset, ours (but soon to be converted into chicken nuggets..or Caribbean jerked. mmm). Overall, not a bad haul for what is essentially the Albany of Morocco, if Morocco was New York.

That being said, it was time to call it quits here in Sorabat and make our way over to NYC, also known as Marrakesh. La Grande Pomme.

Entrance to Chellah

Overview of Chellah

Chellah

The Roman Ruins

The Storks have made there new home here

All Mine!

Hints at the Romans

Smile!

The Hammans

Peak inside the Hammans

TURTLE

Pretty sure this is a Pokemon

Arabic Ruins

Inside

Cats!

Homely Storks

White Storks

Tower of Hassan II

Climbing!

Up on a pedestal

Overview of the Plaza

Oh Hai There

Tomb of Mohammad the V

Ceiling of the Mausoleum

Pretty sure that is a dementor…

Dinner at Dar Naji, Chicken Tagine thing

Tea!

The Marina in Rabat

Phase 8: Ex-Communicated

Long story, short: We took a train from Fez to Rabat.

Long story, regular length: We lacked means for communication so we did what any other person would do when they can’t connect to the internet: panic. Once the panicking was over, we went ahead and did some administrative work. Being supreme rulers is fun and all but we do have a responsibility to our kingdom.

You’re welcome.

Oh, and food.

Kthxbai

Breakfast

Typical traffic in the medina

Leather getting ready to head to the tanneries

Fez Medina Wall

Leaving the Station in Fez

Moroccan Countryside

Square in Rabat

Dinner in Rabat at Dar Naji, Chicken and Couscous Tagine

Dinner in Rabat at Dar Naji, Lemon Chicken and Fish Tagine

Our Room in Rabat

Fez 7: Phase

We awoke the following morning learning that we had infiltrated deep into the heart of the Fez medina. After a quick briefing by our inside man, we realized that complete control would be no ordinary walk in the park. No simple piece of cake. The medina consisted of over three thousand separate streets, each flooded with people that have never been outside the walls of the city. Most of these streets were unnamed and unmarked, making navigation an utter nightmare. We were awoken by our anxious supporters to start the day, fed a nutritious breakfast to keep our energy up, and went out into the labyrinth of the medina. Our initial plan was to vaguely wander around to map the areas as best as possible and cover as much ground as we could, but we were intercepted by an unlikely, but seemingly friendly citizen. Naturally, we were very suspicious of his intentions because of the nature of our game and the overly willingness to help of this individual. He claimed to have love for “the cause” and that he is just helping out in order to become “one” with the new ways. We were unaware of how he knew of our intentions, since few people in the city even knew of our existence. Was he a spy of the enemy? Some kind of double agent? Or truly a dedicated soul of ours to utilize? Only time would tell. Naturally, we kept our wits about us until his true motives would be revealed. However, much to our surprise, he seemed eager enough to spread the good word as much as possible, taking us to popular locales and avoiding dead ends, pun intended. We were able to visit the tanneries and see how our newly acquired (as in, right then…because we took it. Obviously. Called dibs on that real quick) leather goods were to be dyed and produced. We were able to see hordes of people migrate to the local mosques in order to worship. The people here needed no training on how to bow down, as they seemed fairly adept at it currently. We were able to peruse the herb markets to obtain some key ingredients for our future endeavors (you didn’t think we’d stop with just Spain and Morocco, did you?). We stopped by a notable jeweler’s shop/home to pick up some items to adorn ourselves with, as well as our closest and most trusted advisors. We also managed to drop by a carpet merchant and pick up something to adorn our new home. What we’re thinking is, in terms of décor, to create a room dedicated to our conquests. What that entails is to include pieces that represent regions that have come into our possession. This particular room we’re thinking of doing a Moroccan theme. You know, bright and energetic colors, ornate objects with intricate patterns, and trinkets or mementos that make us stop and think, “ah yes, I remember enslaving..er..gaining control of that. Good times. Gooooood times.”

With a full day’s worth of exploration and conversion behind us, we moved on to a well-deserved (and surprisingly scenic) dinner. We ate tajine while the entire medina was in an uproar, celebrating their newfound reformation. We don’t blame them, as we’d be celebrating too if we had great leaders (such as ourselves) come through and unify us under what has proven to be both the most successful and most desirable empire in history. And in future. Obviously.

All in All, what started out to be a daunting task quickly turned into a manageable one. It’s easy to do when you set realistic and attainable goals, like trying to take over the world. How do we do it? Baby steps, my curious Georges. For example, flying half way across the globe and covering 3 continents in 2 weeks. Not a problem, right? Right.

Moving on.

As we make our way down through Morocco, we would like to once again take some time to recognize those following along. You’ve made the right choice by witnessing history in the making. Good job! Feel free to pat yourself on the head…and rub your stomach. If you can do both at the same time then good for you, but nobody likes a show off so don’t be too proud of yourself. Anyway, we’ll keep doing our thaaang, if you keep doing your thaaang, which is reading along and throwing in some little head nods to signify how impressed you are at everything going on.